Hormuz turmoil deepens as crude surges on renewed Trump threats

Britain’s attempt to rally international support for reopening the Strait of Hormuz produced no concrete outcome on Thursday (April 2), as President Donald Trump sharpened his threats towards Iran, crude prices leapt, and concern mounted over the hit to consumers and the broader global economy.

Expectations that Trump might use his Wednesday night address to outline an endgame for the war quickly evaporated. On Thursday, he renewed his warning on social media, writing: “IT IS TIME FOR IRAN TO MAKE A DEAL BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE”.

He also shared footage of a US strike on the newly built B1 bridge between Tehran and the major north-western suburb of Karaj. The bridge was due to open this year. Iranian state media said eight people were killed and 95 were wounded in the attack.

“Striking civilian structures, including unfinished bridges, will not compel Iranians to surrender,” Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said.

In his Wednesday speech, Trump again threatened Iran’s civilian power plants and offered no firm timeline for ending the war, prompting new retaliation threats from Tehran and dragging share prices lower.

“We’re going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks,” Trump said, as domestic calls grew for the conflict to end. “We’re going to bring them back to the Stone Age where they belong.”

Nearly five weeks after the war began with a joint US-Israeli air assault on February 28, the conflict continues to send shockwaves through the region and unsettle financial markets, increasing pressure on Trump to bring it to a close.

Britain chaired a virtual meeting of around 40 countries on Thursday to discuss restoring freedom of navigation through the strait. No specific agreement emerged, although participants agreed that all countries should be able to use the route freely, one official said.

Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz in response to the US-Israeli attacks. The waterway normally carries about a fifth of the world’s oil trade. Since the fighting began, higher oil prices, inflation fears, supply-chain disruption and concern over the wider global economy have all intensified.

Tehran, meanwhile, outlined its own proposal for managing the route, saying it was preparing a protocol with neighbouring Oman that would require ships to obtain permits and licences.

“These requirements will not mean restrictions, but rather to facilitate and ensure safe passage and provide better services to ships that pass through this route,” Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said, according to the official IRNA news agency.

An Iranian military spokesperson said the strait would remain closed “long term” to the US and Israel.

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas rejected Tehran’s idea, saying Iran could not be allowed to charge countries to let ships pass. “International law doesn’t recognise pay-to-pass schemes,” she wrote on social media.

Benchmark Brent crude rose about 7% to around US$108 a barrel, US bond yields spiked, and global equity markets surrendered earlier gains.

“The key question in all investors’ minds is ‘When is this going to be over?’” said Russel Chesler, head of investments and capital markets at VanEck Australia.

In Wednesday’s speech, Trump also told countries that depend on fuel moving through the Strait of Hormuz to “just grab it”. European and other governments have said they would only help secure the passage if there is a ceasefire.

“It can only be done in consultation with Iran,” French President Emmanuel Macron said.

Iran’s armed forces answered with a warning that “more crushing, broader and more destructive” attacks were still to come.

The war will continue until the “permanent regret and surrender” of Iran’s enemies, Ebrahim Zolfaqari, spokesperson for the Iranian military’s Khatam al-Anbiya central headquarters, said in a statement carried by Iranian media.

Far later identified bridges in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi and Jordan, all of which host US military bases, as possible Iranian targets in retaliation for the strike on the B1 bridge. The Revolutionary Guards also said they had targeted an Amazon cloud computing centre in Bahrain.

The conflict has fuelled fears that Iran could exert a stranglehold over Middle East energy supplies after showing it can block the Strait of Hormuz by targeting oil tankers and striking Gulf states that host US troops.

Gulf states say they reserve the right to self-defence, but they have stopped short of military retaliation despite repeated Iranian attacks over the past month, seeking to avoid a much wider Middle East war.

Iran’s parliament is reviewing a bill that would formally block vessels from hostile countries from using the strait and impose tolls on others that wish to pass, spokesperson Abbas Goodarzi said.

Across the Middle East, thousands have been killed and tens of thousands injured since the war began. The head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies delegation said on Thursday that medical needs were rising exponentially and supplies could begin to run low.

Sirens and interceptor blasts were heard over Jerusalem after the Israeli military said it had detected a missile launched from Yemen towards Israel.

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis first claimed an attack on Israel at the end of March as the conflict with Iran spread further across the region.

Fuel shortages are already straining parts of Asia and are expected to hit Europe soon, while a report by two UN agencies warned that a sharp economic slowdown could trigger a cost-of-living crisis in Africa.

Reuters